Former Duck Smith is a big fan of Ionescu

Sunday

The two-time all-American played in the program’s first NCAA Tournament game in 1982 and coached the Ducks to their last appearance in 2005.

Smith is Oregon’s all-time leader in steals, ranks second in rebounds and assists, third in points and fourth in blocks.

On Friday night at Matthew Knight Arena, Smith was on the court for more history — watching from the front row as Sabrina Ionescu broke her record for career triple-doubles during Oregon’s 84-75 victory over No. 15 UCLA.

“What I see in her game is just her competitive nature and the will to win. She will do whatever needs to be done to win,” Smith said of the true freshman guard. “She understands angles and she understands where things are happening. I think her presence and her vision is what really allows her to get three or four rebounds that no one else sees.

“I really love her competitive vision, her basketball IQ and the her opportunism.”

Ionescu finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for her fourth triple-double in her 21st collegiate game. Smith had three triple-doubles in 110 games and didn’t think much about those performances for 35 years.

“We really didn’t look at stats. I think we looked more just at wins and losses,” Smith said. “Obviously our coaches took us through rebounds, shooting percentages and whatnot.

“When double-doubles and triple-doubles statistics came out, I was always thinking that I hold the triple-double record at Prince Pucklers for triple ice creams during my career.”

Smith’s name was often mentioned alongside Jillian Alleyne’s in recent years as the three-time all-American broke her record for career double-doubles and rebounds.

Now Ionescu is on pace to shatter the Pac-12 career triple-double record held by Oregon assistant Nicole Powell, who had six triple-doubles during her memorable playing career at Stanford.

“To have some statistics that might still be relevant today in the game is always something that you treat as a special honor,” Smith said. “To be mentioned with those young women is always a special honor, so it’s been good. It’s always good for your old psyche.

“Those were good times for us, and I enjoyed my time playing at Oregon. I can live vicariously through what they’re enjoying right now.”

The Ducks (16-9 overall, 6-7 Pac-12) have positioned themselves for an NCAA Tournament berth 12 years after Smith guided the program into the second round of the Big Dance.

Oregon hosts USC on Sunday at Matthew Knight Arena (11 a.m., Pac-12 Networks). Ionescu finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists to lead the Ducks to a 59-53 comeback win in the first meeting in Los Angeles.

“She’s a great kid. I hugged her in the line,” UCLA coach Cori Close said of Ionescu, who she recruited for years like most of her peers. “I’m really proud of her. She’s not only a really good basketball player, she’s a great human being. To me, no matter what, she’s a really hard worker. No matter what, you want kids like that to be successful.

“Of course, I don’t want her to do well when we play them, but I have a lot of respect for Ionescu. She will have a special place in my heart. I respect what she’s doing.”

Oregon coach Kelly Graves said he was most impressed with Ionescu’s 10 defensive rebounds, which were the most by either team.

“I always want to have my hand on the ball. So if that’s a rebound, a loose ball, a shot, anything,” the 5-foot-10 Ionescu said of her mentality. “I always tell (Lexi) Bando, if she can’t get a shot, ‘Go get a rebound, get your hand on the ball, just find a way to contribute.’ ”

Bando found her shot against the Bruins, knocking down 5 of 7 three-pointers en route to a game-high 25 points. Maite Cazorla added 13 points and four assists during an impressive performance by the guard line.

The Ducks will need another team effort to beat the Trojans (13-11, 4-9), who stunned No. 9 Oregon State 70-50 on Friday in Corvallis.

“This was a really big game for us growing as a team,” Bando said after the Ducks held on against UCLA on the heels of losing nail-biters to Oregon State and Arizona State. “We just haven’t been able to get it done in the past, but we’re only looking forward.

“If we want to reach the NCAA Tournament we have to close out games like this. We did that (Friday).”

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